Hightown Junior Infant and Nursery School held the popular event for the 12th time last Thursday (March 19), with over 800 people being wowed by a host of designs celebrating nature and the Earth’s beauty.
The school’s pupils, staff and parents, as well as a number of volunteers, former students and children from other local schools joined together to create lanterns including volcanoes, mountains and elaborate trees, as well as a range of animals including giraffes and scorpions.
Praising the whole community, sponsors and volunteers, Scot Minto, who oversees Lantern Land, said:
“The whole reason we do it is for the community. If we didn’t do it anymore there would be a backlash. It is no longer just a school thing, it is a community thing, and we have so many volunteers.
“We have about 15 volunteers who come in every year to support the class workshops and the evening workshops, and they help to make the most elaborate designs possible.
“We even have ex-pupils coming back who did the first ever one in 2015 still involved, which is great. It is about bringing everyone together, past and present.”
The Highlighters PTA and Danielle McGilloway, who owns a sewing and alterations company in Roberttown, were the event’s two key sponsors, while the tape was cut by the grandad of the school’s head boy whose involvement “sums up what makes Lantern Land what it is,” said Scot.
The school would also like to thank all the staff who give up their free time to support the event as well as the running of the weekend and evening workshops, helping to make the lanterns, as well as food for the school’s families.
Take a look through these great photos from this year’s ‘natural world’ theme at Hightown Junior Infant and Nursery School’s Lantern Land.
